1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure is generally directed to bassinets, and more particularly to adjustable bassinets.
2. Description of Related Art
A typical bassinet is constructed to accommodate an infant through the age of three months, the infant development period referred to as “stage one.” During that time period, caregivers usually place the bassinet outside of the nursery, often in another bedroom where the caregiver sleeps. However, many parents are inclined to continue this sleeping arrangement beyond the first three months. Indeed, medical research has expressed the benefits of continuing the sleeping arrangement for an extended time. However, once the infant reaches three months of age, the infant can or soon will be capable of pushing up on hands or knees. As a result, child safety compliance standards state that the wall height of a bassinet, crib, or playard should increase from 8-10 inches for a stage one child to 20 inches for infant children around three months old or 15 lbs, the development period referred to as stage two.
One common approach to addressing the stage one to stage two transition involves temporarily setting up a crib in the caregiver bedroom. Unfortunately, cribs are typically too large to fit through a doorway after assembly. As a result, the crib is first assembled in the parent bedroom, and then later disassembled and reassembled when the child begins to sleep in the nursery.
Another solution adopted by parents involves the use of a playard. Some commercially available playards can be equipped with a bassinet directed to stage one. Once the infant exceeds the weight/age limits of the bassinet, the bassinet is removed, and the infant is placed on the primary, lower surface of the playard. As a result, the infant is surrounded by the panels of the playard, thereby exceeding the minimum wall height requirement. One example of these playard-bassinet combinations is the Graco Pack'n Play with Newborn Napper, which provides yet another sleep surface over the bassinet for a newborn. The Newborn Napper attaches to the bassinet to reduce the sleep surface footprint for the newborn infant.
Another example of the playard-bassinet combination is available from Arms Reach, which manufacturers a playard-like bassinet that has a drop-down side wall. The drop-down wall is primarily employed to provide better access to the infant for night-time feeding.
Many cribs, bassinets, and most playards have walls that make placement and/or removal of a child difficult. These cribs, bassinets and, and playards frequently have tall side walls and/or a sleep surface that is close to the ground, forcing a caregiver to bend over significantly to attend to the child. Many of these products also employ removable components in an attempt to accommodate a broad age range. Unfortunately, these components may be lost and complicate the assembly of the product.